Don Trahan spent 16 hours in his car on Tuesday, driving from the Boston-area site of the PGA Tour’s Deutsche Bank Championship to his home in Upstate South Carolina. If the long-time teaching professional could’ve rigged a hybrid system powered by anger and disappointment, he could’ve avoided every gas station along the way.
D.J. Trahan
The father of former Clemson All-American and fourth-year Tour player D.J. Trahan was still dealing with the fallout of his son’s failure to earn a captain’s pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. U.S. captain Paul Azinger had announced his four selections that morning, taking Steve Stricker, J.B. Holmes, Hunter Mahan and surprise pick Chad Campbell.
Trahan, 11th on the final Ryder Cup points list — the top eight automatically earned berths — was passed over, as was No. 10 Woody Austin. Worse, his father said, D.J. did not receive a call from Azinger about his omission; according to Golf Channel reports, U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate was the only non-selection to hear from the captain.
According to the elder Trahan, his son was “rock-solid with it. A friend of his talked with him and he’s OK with it. He’s one of these guys, he takes the spikes off, it’s over, on to the next issue.”
His father was a different matter.
Though Trahan declined to go into specifics, it was clear he felt his son was unduly penalized for a horrible final-round 80 at the Deutsche Bank. That was D.J.’s worst scoring round of the year, yet according to Don Trahan, the final result didn’t accurately reflect his son’s play.
“Monday was the day from hell,” he said. “He hit it as good as the other days (Trahan shot 66-67-70 his first three rounds) and putted well, but he had seven lipouts (putts) and four horseshoes (putts that went in and came back out). Two balls hung on the lip and didn’t fall.
“And twice he had drives in the middle of the fairways that kicked into trouble. At 18 (where the younger Trahan finished with a doub le bogey) it kicked into the rough and he wound up hitting a high cut into the hazard.
“It was one of those days beyond belief. And it couldn’t have happened on a worse day.”
That judgment came after Azinger comments that he waited until Monday night and perhaps even Tuesday morning to finalize his picks. Azinger said the final choices were close, suggesting Trahan’s wretched final round might’ve been the difference.
“I think he had a good chance (before that),” Don Trahan said. “D.J. had rumors back to him from sources that said Paul really liked him, and he came away with that feeling. To base a year’s decision on one round? He was pretty confident (about making the team).”
D.J. Trahan learned differently by watching TV coverage of Azinger’s announcement. Earlier, his father had helped him pack a van for the trip to Boston’s Logan Airport, where D.J. was to fly to St. Louis for this week’s BMW Championship.
“We talked for five minutes in the parking lot,” Don Trahan said. “I believed he had it. But a friend of his asked if he knew anything and D.J. said, ‘Watch TV at 10 a.m.’
“I called him after Azinger (announced his picks) and he said, ‘I’m OK, it’s a bummer, I wanted to play (and) thought I should make it. But he didn’t (pick Trahan), what can you do?’”
What Trahan will do, his father said, is use his own disappointment as motivation. He’ll need it this week; after his 37th-place finish at the Deutsche Bank, Trahan stands 35th in the FedEx Cup standings, and only the top 30 will advance from St. Louis to the Tour Championship in Atlanta. That will be in three weeks, following next week’s open date and, of course, the Ryder Cup in Louisville, Sept. 19-21.
“(The Ryder Cup) is water over the dam now,” Don Trahan said. “I think he’ll refocus and set goals for himself.”
Those goals could include replicating his early 2008 play. Trahan won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in February, and tied for fourth at the U.S. Open among his highlights.
For 2009, Don Trahan said his son’s likely goals would include “multiple wins, plus a major (win). I think he’s looking to get into the top 20 in the world.”
And the Presidents Cup, which comes up following the 2009 season? Trahan’s fellow Clemson alumn, Lucas Glover, fell short of making the 2006 Ryder Cup team but rebounded for a spot on the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team in 2007.
“I’m sure it will be on his radar,” Don Trahan said.
Father and son plan to meet near D.J.’s home in Mount Pleasant next week to prepare for his Tour Championship week — assuming, that is, he gets into the top 30 with this week’s performance in St. Louis.
The two might talk then about D.J.’s experience — one Don Trahan called gruelling, not only for D.J. and others who didn’t make the Ryder Cup, but even those players who did.
“They put those guys through hell,” he said, referring to Azinger, the PGA of America and the golf media. “Every time they turned around, it was Ryder Cup this, Ryder Cup that.
“I was in the locker room Monday after his round, and a guy came up and said, ‘D.J., I know it’s a bad time, but I need to ask you about the Ryder Cup.’”
Chances are both Trahans will hear more questions with a similar opening between now and the week in Louisville — a week they hoped would be the highlight of D.J.’s career, but instead means only frustration now.
BOB GILLESPIE
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